Emergency lighting assembly having heat conducting member

ABSTRACT

An emergency lighting assembly is provided having a housing with one or more adjustable lamp assemblies for aiming the light at selected areas. The lamp assembly is mounted in the housing by a ball and socket arrangement. The lamp assembly has a substantially spherical shape with a front section made of a heat conducting material and a rear section made of a plastic material. The front section has an opening on a front side having a lens and a base spaced from the front side supporting the light source. The light source in one embodiment is an LED which is coupled to the front section to conduct heat from the LED away from the LED and the housing. The rear section has an opening in the rear side that receives a fixed stop member to limit pivoting movement of the lamp assembly with respect to the housing. The rear section also includes a projection oriented to contact the stop member to limit rotation of the lamp assembly with respect to the housing.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.15/695,436, filed Sep. 5, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/220,002, filed on Aug. 29, 2011, the disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and towhich priority is claimed.

FIELD

The present invention is directed to an emergency lighting system havingan LED light source. The invention is particularly directed to anemergency lighting assembly where the LED light source is a ball andsocket for adjusting the position of the light source and having heatconducting member to prevent overheating.

BACKGROUND

Emergency light fixtures are commonly used in public buildings toilluminate areas such as stairs and exits in the event of a powerfailure. These fixtures have an emergency backup power system such as abattery that automatically turns the emergency light on when the primarypower source is interrupted.

The prior emergency lights include one or more incandescent lights thatcan be adjusted to direct the light to a specific location. Theincandescent lights require large batteries to operate the light forsufficient time to allow the public to exit the building in the event ofan emergency. This requires the housing to be of sufficient size tohouse the batter and requires the housing toe be of sufficient strengthto support the weight of the battery while being mounted on a wall.Incandescent lights generally require large reflectors to direct thelight to a target area which increase the size of the unit.

Emergency lights are often constructed from a housing with two lightsadjustably mounted on the housing. Examples of such devices aredisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,673 to Logan et al., U.S. Pat. No.6,848,798 to Logan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,085 to Katz et al., andU.S. Pat. No. 6,606,808 to Katz.

U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0013399 to Hu discloses an LED lightassembly having a housing with external fins for dissipating heat. Thelight assembly is constructed for use in existing lamp sockets.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,850 to Alexander et al. discloses an adjustable LEDlighting assembly for mounting to a wall or support. The assemblyincludes a compression element that compresses from a first position toa second position to generate a compression force to reduce the thermalimpediments between the LED assembly and the thermal conductive housing.The thermal conductive housing includes a plurality of external fins.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,744,259 to Walczak et al. discloses an adjustable LEDspotlight having a fixed heat sink and an LED array bearing structure.The LED structure has a ball and socket arrangement where the ball isreceived within the housing. The housing has a plurality of externalfins for dissipating the heat from the LED.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,722,227 to Zhang et al. discloses a recessed lightingstructure having an LED contained within the housing. The housingincludes a plurality of fins for dissipating the heat.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,657 to Den Boer discloses an illumination devicehaving an LED light source mounted within a ball that fits within asocket. The housing includes an annular ring to couple the ball withinthe socket.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,905 to Tiesler discloses a trim panel assemblyhaving a pivotal light mechanism. The light assembly can pivot tovarious positions within the housing.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,398 to Buelow et al. discloses an adjustable lightpipe fixture having a ball and socket arrangement. The ball includes areflective inner surface and a lens and a connecting portion forconnecting to the light pipe.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,324 to Kim discloses a low profile combination exitand emergency light system having an LED lighting strip for illuminatingthe exit sign. The assembly includes integral end portions with separatedownwardly shining lights. The lights are a ball and socket arrangement.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,874 to Petroski discloses a high power LED lamphaving a heat sink secured to the die. The housing is positioned betweenthe heat sink and the external environment. Heat within the die isconducted to the heat sink and the housing conducts the heat receivedfrom the heat sink to the external environment.

The prior lighting fixtures have generally been suitable for theirintended purpose. There is, however, a continuing need in the industryfor improved lighting fixtures to meet the current trends in theindustry.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to a lighting fixture having an LEDlight source and a heat dissipating system. The invention isparticularly directed to an emergency lighting assembly having an LEDlight source that can be adjustable to direct the light to a selectedarea and where heat generated by the LED is directed away from the LED.

Accordingly, a primary feature of the invention is to provide anemergency lighting assembly having a housing and one or more adjustableLED lights. The housing encloses suitable wiring and circuits and abattery as a backup power source when the primary power supply isinterrupted.

Another aspect of the invention is to provide an adjustable LED lightmounted in a housing for adjustment to a number of differentorientations. The adjustable LED light has an outer portion forming ashell where at least a portion of the outer portion is made from a heatconducting material such as metal. A portion of the LED light extendsoutwardly from the housing to dissipate the heat generated by the LED.

A further aspect of the invention is to provide an emergency lightassembly where the light is an LED mounted in the housing by a ball andsocket arrangement. The lamp assembly encloses the LED light and ismounted for swiveling movement to orient the light in a selecteddirection. The lamp assembly has a substantially spherical shaperesembling a ball to move within the socket of the housing. The lampassembly is formed from a rear section that is made of a plasticmaterial mounted in the housing and a front section made of a heatconducting material which extends from the housing to conduct heat awayfrom the LED.

A further aspect of the invention is to provide an adjustable lightassembly where a lamp is mounted in a housing in a ball and socketarrangement having a stop mechanism to limit rotational movement of thelamp. The lamp can be a substantially spherical shape having a frontside for directing light to a target area and rear side mounted to thehousing. The rear side has an opening that receives a stop memberextending from the housing. The stop member is in a fixed location tolimit the rotational movement of the lamp.

These and other aspects of the invention are basically attained byproviding an emergency lighting assembly comprising a housing having anouter wall defining an inner cavity and having at least one opening inthe outer wall defining a socket. An electrical power source iscontained within the housing. At least one substantially spherical lampassembly is connected to the power source and is mounted in the openingin the housing for swiveling movement with respect to the housing. Thelamp assembly has a rear section with a convex outer surface received inthe opening in the housing, and a front section coupled to the rearsection and facing outwardly from the opening in the housing. The frontsection has an LED light source coupled thereto made of a heatconducting material to dissipate heat from the LED light source awayfrom the housing.

The various aspects of the invention are also attained by providing alighting assembly comprising a housing having an opening therein and alamp assembly adjustably mounted in the opening in the housing. The lampassembly has a rear section mounted in the opening in the housing formovement in at least one direction. A front section is coupled to therear section to extend outwardly from the opening in the housing. Thefront section is made of a heat conducting material and has a base andLED light source on the base, and an opening spaced from the base fordirecting light to a target area. The LED is coupled to the frontsection to conduct heat from the LED away from the housing.

Other aspects of the invention are attained by providing an emergencylighting assembly comprising a housing enclosing an emergency powersource and having at least two openings in an outer wall, the openingdefining a socket. A substantially spherical shaped lamp assembly ismounted in each of the openings in the housing and is independentlyadjustable for pivoting and swiveling movement within the opening. Eachlamp assembly has a front side and a rear side and encloses a lightsource. The rear side of the lamp assembly has an opening and thehousing has a stop member positioned in the opening in the lamp assemblyto limit pivoting movement of the lamp assembly within the respectiveopening in the housing.

These and other aspects, advantages and features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of the inventionwhich discloses various embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following is a brief description of the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the emergency light of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the emergency light of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the emergency light of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the emergency light taken along line4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the lamp assembly of the emergency lightof FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the lamp assembly showing the LED lampmounted in the front portion of the lamp assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lamp assembly with the lens removed;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the lamp assembly of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of the lamp assembly andhousing;

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the lamp assembly retainer member forlimiting movement of the lamp assembly and showing the lamp assembly ina first position;

FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the lamp assembly showing the lamp assemblyin a second position;

FIG. 12 is a bottom view showing the lamp assembly in a third position;and

FIG. 13 is a bottom view showing the stop member to limit rotation ofthe lamp assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to a lighting system and particularlyan emergency lighting assembly having adjustable lighting units fordirecting light to a selected area. The emergency lighting assembly 10of the invention includes a housing 12 and an adjustable lamp assembly14.

The lighting assembly 10 in preferred embodiments of the inventionprovides lighting to an area when there is interruption of electricalpower. The emergency lighting assembly includes a battery 16 shown inFIG. 4 and suitable circuitry 18 for actuating the lamp assembly 14.Emergency lighting assembly 10 is connected to a suitable power source(not shown) for maintaining the battery in a charged condition. Thecircuitry actuates the lamp assembly when the primary source of power isinterrupted. The circuitry can be conventional circuitry as known in theart for actuating the lamp assembly.

The housing 12 in the embodiment shown has a main body 20 and a backwall 22. The back wall 22 is typically mounted against a wall or othersupport surface. The main body 20 and the back wall 22 are typicallymade of a molded rigid plastic material where the back wall 22 isconnected to the main body 20 by a snap connection. The main body 20 asshown in FIGS. 1-3 has a front wall 24, inclined side walls 26, andinclined top wall 28 and inclined bottom wall 30. Side walls 26 areoriented at an incline with respect to the front wall to direct light ina generally outward and forward direction with respect to the housing.

Referring to FIG. 4, housing 12 has an opening 32 for supporting thelamp assembly 14. A bushing 34 is received in the opening 32 forsupporting the lamp assembly 14. The bushing 34 in the embodimentillustrated has a circular shape that snaps into a circular opening inthe housing. The bushing 34 in the embodiment illustrated has a circularopening forming an inwardly facing bearing surface 36. The bushing 34has a thickness greater than the thickness of the side walls sufficientfor supporting the lamp assembly while allowing the sliding movementbetween the lamp assembly and the housing.

Lamp assembly 14 has a substantially spherical shape with a dimension tofit within the opening of the bushing 34. The bushing 34 and the lampassembly 14 form a ball and socket assembly for allowing the lampassembly to be adjusted in a variety of orientations. The lamp assemblyis able to pivot in a side to side and up and down direction withrespect to the housing to allow aiming of the lamp assembly in thedesired location. Each lamp assembly 14 shown in FIG. 4 is independentlyadjustable.

The lamp assembly 14 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is formed from a frontportion forming front section 38 and a rear portion forming a rearsection 40. The front section 38 and rear section 40 are coupledtogether to form the spherical shaped lamp assembly shown in FIG. 4.Each of the front section 38 and rear section 40 form a substantiallyhemispherical shape. The front section 38 extends outwardly from thehousing as shown in FIG. 4 and extends outwardly from the side walls.The rear section 40 is maintained primarily within the cavity of thehousing. The front and rear sections can be coupled together by snapconnectors 41 on the rear section 40 or by other suitable connectingmeans.

The front section 38 of lamp assembly 14 has a convex outer surface 42and a concave inner surface 44. The front section 38 has a circularbottom edge 46 for joining with the rear section 40. The front section38 has an opening 48 defining a front edge 50. As shown in FIG. 8,opening 48 includes an inwardly extending lip 52 spaced from the frontedge 50.

Front section 38 is provided with a base 54 spaced from the front edge50 by a cylindrical wall 56 extending downwardly from the front edge 50.An opening 58 is formed on opposite sides of the cylindrical wall 56.The opening 58 extends to the base 54 to form a straight edge 60 onopposite sides of the base. The openings 58 have a dimension to allowsuitable wiring to pass through for connecting to the light source. Thebase 54 has a bottom face with a plurality of downwardly extending fins59 to increase the surface area for conducting excess heat away from theLED. In the embodiment shown, the fins 59 have a substantiallytriangular shape, although the fins can have other shapes that arecapable of cooling the base 54 and preventing heat related damage to theLED.

The light source in a preferred embodiment of the invention is an LED 62mounted on a printed circuit board 64. The printed circuit board 64 ismounted on the base 54 and attached by a screw 66 or other fastener thatextends through a hole 68 in the printed circuit board 64 and isthreaded into a hole 70 in the base 54. The printed circuit board 64includes a notch 72 for aligning with an alignment tab 74 on the base54.

Printed circuit board 64 has a substantially circular configuration asshown in FIG. 5 with a dimension to fit within the opening in the frontsection and seat on the base 54. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, an outeredge of the printed circuit board 64 extends from and overhangs thestraight edge 60 of the base 54.

LED 62 can be a conventional array of LEDs or a single LED as known inthe art. The LED array is selected to be sufficient to illuminate thedesired area. As shown in FIG. 8, a lens 76 is mounted in a lensretainer ring 78 and coupled to the front section 38. The retainer ring78 has a circular configuration with a thickness corresponding to thedepth of the lip 52. A downwardly extending hook-like member 80 isprovided for hooking to the bottom edge of the lip 52 for fastening thelens retainer ring 78 to the front section 38. The lens 76 is receivedwithin a circular opening 82 in the retainer ring 78 and is held inplace by inwardly extending tabs 83 on the retainer ring 78. The lens 76in the embodiment shown has a frustoconical shape with an inclined sidewall 84 and a flat outer surface 86. The body of the lens has acylindrical shaped opening 88 at an inner end adjacent the LED 62 and aconvex bottom surface 90 in the opening 88.

Front section 38 is preferably made of a heat conducting material suchas aluminum or other metal and rear section 40 is preferably made of anon-conducting material such as a plastic. The printed circuit board 64is attached to the base 54 in a manner to transfer heat from the LED andprinted circuit board through the base and the cylindrical side wall 56to the outer shell of the front section 38. Heat within the cavity ofthe lamp assembly is also conducted through the wall of the frontsection. The outer surface 42 of the front section 38 faces outwardlyfrom the housing to dissipate the heat from the LED and prevent damageto the LED and the printed circuit board. The assembly is received inthe socket so that a sufficient surface area of the front section isexposed to dissipate the heat from the LED outward from the front of thehousing. The housing is preferably made of plastic so that minimal heatis conducted through the walls of the housing. The rear section 40 isalso made of plastic to reduce the heat conduction into the housing fromthe LED.

The rear section 40 of the lamp assembly 14 has a complementingspherical shape with a convex outer surface 92 and a concave innersurface 94. Rear section 40 has a top edge 96 and an opening 98 forminga bottom edge 100. The top edge 96 mates with the bottom edge 46 of thefront section 38 to form the spherical shaped lamp assembly 14. A pairof legs 102 extend from the inner surface 94 towards the upper end ofthe rear section 40 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The upper end of the legs102 include an inwardly extending hook portion 104. The tabs 41 extendupwardly from the top edge 96 for aligning and coupling the frontsection and rear section together. The rear section 40 is snappedtogether with the front section 38 so that the legs 102 extend throughthe opening 58 in the side wall 56 of the first section 38 as shown inFIG. 8. The hook portion 104 hooks over the top edge of the printedcircuit board 64 in the area that extends over the straight edge 60 asshown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The legs snap onto the printed circuit board 64to hold the printed circuit board in contact with the heat conductingmaterial of the base.

The lighting assembly is assembled by positioning the lamp assembly 14from the inner side of the housing into the socket opening defined bythe bushing 34 as shown in FIG. 9. The lamp assembly 14 is held in placeby a retainer 110 in the form of a ring-like member coupled to the innersurface of the housing by a screw 112. The opening in the bushing 34 hasa dimension slightly less than the outermost dimension of the sphericalshaped lamp assembly 14 to retain the lamp assembly 14 in the housing.The retainer 110 includes a ring 114 with an inwardly extending lip 115having an inner edge 116 with an inner dimension slightly less than theoutermost dimension of the spherical lamp assembly 14. The retainer 110is attached to the housing to capture the lamp assembly 14 between thering 114 and the bushing 34 as shown in FIG. 9. A mounting flange 118having a screw hole 120 is provided for attaching the retainer 110 tothe housing by the screw 112.

Referring to FIGS. 10-13, the retainer 110 includes an arm 122 defininga stop member for limiting the rotational movement of the lamp assemblywith respect to the housing. The arm 122 has a substantially arcuateshape conforming to the shape of the outer surface of the lamp assembly14. As shown in FIG. 9, the arm extends to a midpoint of the ring 114and includes an inwardly extending detent forming a post 124. The post124 has a length to extend towards the open end of the rear section toengage the bottom edge 100 of the rear section when the lamp assembly isrotated or pivoted within the socket as shown in FIG. 10. The post ispositioned to contact the bottom edge 100 of the opening 98 so that thelamp assembly 14 can be pivoted in an up and down direction and a sideto side direction with respect to the housing while limiting the travelso that the lamp assembly can be focused and directed within a specifiedfield. The post also prevents the lamp assembly from being rotated to apoint where the light is directed towards the housing itself. The outersurface of the rear section 40 also includes a stop member 126 in theform of a post that extends in a direction outwardly from the surface ofthe rear section 40. The stop member 126 extends a distance to contactthe arm 122 when the lamp assembly 14 is rotated to the position shownin FIG. 3. In the manner, the stop 126 enables the lamp assembly to berotated about an axis extending through the opening in the housingslightly less than 360°. The stop member limits the rotation of the lampassembly in the direction of arrow 128 shown in FIG. 13 to prevent wiresextending between the power source and the printed circuit board frombeing twisted or tangled.

In use, the printed circuit board and the LED are connected to thebattery or other power source by wires 130 or other electricalconnection that extend through the opening in the cylindrical wall ofthe front section 38. The lighting assembly is assembled as shown inFIGS. 1 and 4 and mounted to a wall or other support surface. Thelighting assembly is then connected to a power source to maintain thebattery in a charged condition. Typically, the lighting assembly iswired to an electrical junction box or electrical receptacle as known inthe art. Each of the lamp assemblies 14 can be independently adjusted todirect the beam of light produced from the LED to a selected area. Thelamp assemblies can pivot and swivel within the socket defined by theopening in the housing and the retainer ring.

While various embodiments have been disclosed, it will be understoodthat various changes and modifications can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lighting assembly comprising: a housing havingan outer wall defining an inner cavity, and having at least one openingin the outer wall defining a socket; at least one substantiallyspherical lamp assembly mounted in the opening in the housing formovement with respect to said housing, the lamp assembly having a rearsection received in the opening in the housing, and a front sectioncoupled to the rear section with a snap-fit connection and facingoutwardly from the opening in the housing, wherein the front sectionincludes a base and an alignment tab extending from the base; and alight source connected to the lamp assembly, the light source includinga notch receiving the alignment tab to align the light source on thebase.
 2. The lighting assembly of claim 1, wherein the snap-fitconnection includes at least one leg with a hook portion.
 3. Thelighting assembly of claim 2, wherein the front section includes a baseand the hook portion extends from the rear section to connect to thebase.
 4. The lighting assembly of claim 3, wherein the front sectionincludes an opening and the leg extends through the opening.
 5. Thelighting assembly of claim 3, wherein the light source is connected tothe base.
 6. The lighting assembly of claim 5, wherein the hook portiondirectly engages the light source.
 7. The lighting assembly of claim 5,wherein the light source includes an LED connected to a printed circuitboard.
 8. The lighting assembly of claim 1, further comprising a lensconnected to the front section.
 9. The lighting assembly of claim 1,wherein the front section is made from a first material having a firstthermal conductivity and the rear section is made from a second materialhaving a second thermal conductivity less than said first thermalconductivity.
 10. A lighting assembly comprising: a housing having anouter wall defining an inner cavity, and having at least one opening inthe outer wall defining a socket; at least one substantially sphericallamp assembly mounted in the opening in the housing for movement withrespect to said housing, the lamp assembly having a rear section with aconvex outer surface received in the opening in the housing, and a frontsection coupled to the rear section facing outwardly from the opening inthe housing, wherein the front section includes a base and an alignmenttab extending from the base; and a light source connected to the lampassembly, the light source including a notch receiving the alignment tabto align the light source on the base.
 11. The lighting assembly ofclaim 10, wherein the light source includes a LED connected to a printedcircuit board and wherein the notch is formed on the printed circuitboard.
 12. The lighting assembly of claim 10, further comprising a lensconnected to the front section.
 13. The lighting assembly of claim 12,further comprising a lens ring connecting the lens to the front section.14. The lighting assembly of claim 13, wherein the lens ring includes ahook member engaging the front section.
 15. The lighting assembly ofclaim 10, wherein the front section includes a first sidewall and anopening formed in the sidewall.
 16. The light assembly of claim 15,wherein the rear section includes a leg with a hook portion, and whereinthe leg extends through the opening and the hook portion connects to thebase to snap-fit the front section to the rear section.
 17. A lightingassembly comprising: a housing having an outer wall defining an innercavity, and having at least one opening in the outer wall defining asocket; at least one substantially spherical lamp assembly mounted inthe opening in the housing for movement with respect to said housing,the lamp assembly having a rear section with a convex outer surfacereceived in the opening in the housing, and a front section coupled tothe rear section facing outwardly from the opening in the housing,wherein the front section includes a base having a top surface andbottom surface, and a plurality of heat conducting fins extending fromthe bottom surface of the base; and a light source connected to the topsurface of the base.
 18. The light assembly of claim 17, wherein therear section includes a leg with a hook portion, and wherein the hookportion connects to the base to snap-fit the front section to the rearsection.
 19. The light assembly of claim 18, wherein the light sourceincludes an LED connected to a printed circuit board and the hookportion directly engages the printed circuit board.
 20. The lightassembly of claim 17, wherein an alignment tab extends from the base andthe light source connected to the lamp assembly, the light sourceincluding a notch receiving the alignment tab to align the light sourceon the base.